Construction of milk crates



March 22, 1938. H. s. LION ET AL CONSTRUCTION oF MILK cRATEs Filed oet.16, 1934 INVENTOR. #Ayom S. L/o/v IIL 7, ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES guise CONSTRUCTION OF MILK CBATESHarold S. Lion and Carlisle G. Rohren Cincinnati, Ohio, assignors, bymesne assignments, to The Evans Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio,a corporation of Ohio Application October 16, 1934, Serial No. 748,536

13 Claims.

Our invention relates to the construction of milk crates especially, butnot exclusively, of the slatted style, i. e. of the type in which theside and end walls are made up of wooden rails or slats.

- In such crates it has hitherto been suggested to use inner and outercorner irons between which the slats or rails are engaged. It has alsobeen suggested to provide these corner irons with ears lying between theslats and to fasten the structure together with a wire lacing passingthrough the slats and through the ears. 'Ihe lacing has usually beenbent over at the bottom, and shoe members have been provided to coverit.

We shall describe our invention in an exemplary embodiment, from adescription of which it will be understood that the objects of ourinvention are the provision of an improved corner construction, and anovel way of fastening the several parts together, which fastening isstrong 2o and positive, but easily removed for replacement or repair. Itis also an object of our invention to provide a stronger and moreserviceable crate. These and other objects of our invention which willbe set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the artupon reading these specilications, we accomplish by that certainconstruction and arrangement of parts of which we shall describe theaforesaid exemplary embodiment, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a milk crate embodying our invention. A

Figure 2 is an elevational View of a corner thereof.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of an outer corner iron.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of an inner corner iron.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a stacking iron. Figure 7 shows a toolfor removing the locking rods.

Figure 7a is an enlarged view of the end of the tool.

Briefly in the practice of our invention we provide inner and outercorner irons in a slatted construction, the corner irons having earslying between the slats. The slats and the ears have registeringperforations, and fastening means are provided in the form of a rodwhich passes through the registering perforations. The outer corner ironis turned over to form a shoe member, and the rod is removable by meansof a tool which is insertable through the perforations in the shoemember. Locking means are provided forrthe rod. A new type of stackingiron is likewise intended for use with this combination, and is claimedin a co-pending application entitled Milk crate corner assemblies, filedof even date 5 herewith.

The general assembly of an exemplary crate is shown in Figure 1, wherethe sides are indicated at I and the ends at 2. Longitudinal bottomforming rods are shown at 3, and longitudinal l0 and transversepartition forming rods at 4 and 5. Bottom strut members are shown at 6,and arms 1 connect the partition rods at their crossing points and havean operative relationship with the bottom structure. The interior roddedor 16 other construction of the crate, however, has no necessary bearingupon our invention, and will not be further described.

Reference to-Figures 2 and 3 will show that the sides and ends of ourcrate are formed of slats Ia etc. and 2a etc. respectively. Inner andouter corner irons are shown at 8 and 9. A stacking iron is shown at I0.The inner and outer corner iron ymembers are of generally rectangularcross section, and will be described n some detail. 25

The outer corner iron 9 has portions bent over at the top as shown atII. Ears I2 are bent up normal to the side walls of the corner iron atintervals. These ears are perforated for a purpose hereinafter to bedescribed, and are intended 30 to cooperate with the ears on the innercorner iron to lie above, below and between each pair of slats or railsin the sides and ends of the box and to act as spacers therefor. Thebottom portions of the outer corner iron are bent over to 35 form bottomshoe members I3 and then are continued upwardly to form interspacedmembers I4 which terminate in perforated, bent over ears I5. Theportions of the side walls of both corner irons Ybetween the ears arepreferably beveled as at I6 40 excepting at the top, as shown.

The inner corner iron is likewise of angular formation, having top earsI'I, and other ears I8 nterspaced therefrom. Whereas in the outer corneriron the ears are bent over inwardly, in 45 the inner corner iron theyare bent over outwardly, so that when the irons are assembled Y with theends of the slats or rails therebetween the ears and the perforationstherein may be aligned with each other and with perforations in 50 theslats or rails. By reason of the portions I4 of the outer corner iron,the inner corner iron does not need to be as long.

In one embodiment of our invention, we form a stacking iron as aseparate piece. This is a 55 member of generally angular cross sectionhaving a body (Figure 6) and a stacking extension 2li. This extension isreduced, and offset from the body, and is of the usual shape to permitits engagement within the bottom shoes of an overlying crate when thecrates are stacked. Upper and lower ears 2l and 22 are struck upoutwardly from the body of the stacking iron, and are perforated. Theyare of a size and shape adapted to permit their alignment with the earson the inner and outer corner irons as clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3.Both the corner and the stacking irons are preferably formed as sheetmetal stampings, galvanized or otherwise protected from corrosion.

In assembling the crate the slats or rails go between the inner andouter corner irons. The ends of the upper rails are notched out as at 23to bring the top ears of the corner irons substantially into the planeof the top of the crate. The lower rails or slats are also notched outas at 24 to bring the shoe portions I3 of the outer corner irons to thelevel of the bottom of the crate, and further, to accommodate the offsetend of a shoe strip 25 which underlies each bottom rail and which may beriveted thereto, as at 26. The stacking irons are added to the assemblywith their ears in alignment with the ears of the outer and inner cornerirons. When the parts have been put together in this way, assemblies ofears underlie and overlie each rail or slat, and act as supports and asultimate spacers therefor. Perforations in the several metal members andin the slats or rails are brought into alignment, and the crate may befastened together with rod means to be described hereinafter. y

The perforations in the top rails or slats are somewhat larger thanthe'perforations in the other rails, and also have still furtherenlarged portions indicated at 26. Rod members 21, which are preferablylong enough to extend from the top almost to the bottom of the crate,but are in no event longer than the crate is high, are provided withheads 28, and crooks or shoulders 29. These rod members may be driventhrough the aligned perforations to complete the crate. When they are sodriven, the crook 29 in the rods compresses as it passes through theperforation in the top rails, but expands into the enlargement 26 of theperforation locking the rods against dislodgment. The rods may otherwisebe expanded, or other suitable locking means provided. The crate, or anycorner portion thereof, however, is easily disassembled for repair orreplacement either of a corner iron, a stacking iron, or the railsthemselves, by merely driving out the rods 21 until the locking meanshave come above the upper ears or have otherwise been disengaged. Thisis conveniently done by means of a tool such as that shown in Figure 7,having a handle and driving head 3U, and a shank 3| of about the samesize as the rod. The upper end of the shank is preferably hollowed asshown at Sla in Figure '7a so as to provide a positive engagement withthe end of the rod. 'Ihe shank of this tool is inserted through theperforations in the shoe members of the corner irons, and when itcontacts the end of the rod, is tapped with a hammer until the rod hasbeen driven far enough out to free the crook therein as aforesaid. Afterthis the rod may be easily withdrawn by the ngers for the remainder ofthe way. When a new part has replaced the old, the crate is reassembledby reinsei'tion of the rod. There will, as shown, be two of the rods ateach corner of the crate.

It will be understood that modifications may be made in our inventionwithout departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination in a crate, a corner reinforcement member, slatsforming a wall of said crate, ears on said member entering in betweensaid slats, a continuous perforation extending through said ears andsaid slats, a rod in said continuous perforation extending substantiallythe full length thereof, and releasable means for holding said rod insaid perforation, said means comprising a crook in said rod and acooperating abutment in said perforation.

2. In combination in a crate, a corner reinforcement member, slatsforming a wall of said crate, ears on said member entering in betweensaid slats, a continuous perforation extending through said ears andsaid slats, a rod in said continuous perforation extending substantiallythe full length thereof, and releasable means for Vholding said rod insaid perforation, said means comprising a sidewise extending abutment insaid rod and a cooperating abutment in said perforation.

3. An outer corner iron for slatted crates consisting of an angularbody, ears at intervals therealong at both edges to lie between adjacentslats, and bottomv portions of said iron bent over to act as shoes, saidears and shoes being perforated, said bottom portions being continued upinside said body for at least the width of one slat and l interspacedfrom said body the thickness of the end of a slat.

4. An outer corner iron for slatted crates con sisting of an angularbody, ears at intervals therealong at both edges to lie between adjacentslats, and bottom portions of said iron bent over to act as shoes, saidears and shoes being perforated, said bottom portions being continued upinside said body for at least the width of one slat and interspaced fromsaid body the thickness of the end of a slat, and inwardly extendingears on the said continuations of said body, said ears havingperforations in alignment with said first mentioned perforations.

5. In combination in a slatted crate, a corner reinforcement member ofangular shape having ears adapted to lie between the slats, bottomportions of said member being bent over inwardly so as to enclose theends of the bottom slats, at least, upon three sides, slats forming aside and end wall of a crate, continuous perforations extending throughsaid ears, said slats and said bottom portions, and fastening means insaid continuous perforations extending substantially the full lengththereof.

6. In combination in a slatted crate, a cornery as to enclose the endsof the bottom slats, at least,

upon three sides, slats forming a side and end as to enclose the ends ofthe bottom slats, at least, upon three sides, slats forming a side andend wall of a crate, continuous perforations extending through saidears, said slats and said bottom portions, and rods in said continuousperforations extending substantially the full length thereof,

said means comprising sidewise extending abutments in said rods andcooperating abutments in said perforations.

8. In combination in a slatted crate, inner and outer cornerV ironshaving cooperating pairs of ears adapted to lie between the slats, slatsforming side and end walls of a crate, continuous perforations extendingthrough said slats and ears, and stiff rods in said continuousperforations extending nearly but not entirely the full length thereof,and means for holding said parts in assembled relation, said meanscomprising sidewise extending abutments in said rods and cooperatingabutments in said perforations.

9. In combination in a crate, a corner angle iron, slats formed a Wallof said crate, ears on said angle iron entering between said slats,aligned perforations forming a continuous hole extending through theentire length of said ears and said slats, a rod in said hole of' alength sufcient to hold the parts in assembled relation, readilyreleasable securing means for holdin-g the parts together, said meanscomprising retaining means within the limits of said hole cooperatingwith engaging means on said rod.

10. In combination in a crate comprising superimposed slats forming theWalls of said crate, a corner angle iron having ears located at the topand bottom thereof confining the assembled slats therebetween, saidslats and ears having aligned openings therethrough for receiving areadily releasable securing rod thereon.

11. In combination in a crate comprising superimposed slats forming theWalls of said crate, a corner angle iron having ears located at the topand bottom thereof confining the assembled slats therebetween, andhaving other ears entering in between said slats, said slats and earshaving aligned openings therethrough for receiving a readily releasablesecuring rod therein.

12. In combination a crate comprising superimposed slats forming thewalls of said crate, a corner angle iron having ears located at thebottom thereof conning the assembled slats thereabove, said slats andears having aligned openings therethrough for receiving a readilyreleasable headed securing rod therein.

13. In combination a crate comprising superimposed slats forming thewalls of said crate, a corner angle iron having ears located at thebottom thereof conning the assembled slats thereabove and other earsentering in between said slats, said slats and ears having alignedopenings therethrough for receiving a readily releasable headed securingrod therein.

HAROLD S. LION. CARLISLE G. ROHRER.

